Integral lipids of mammalian hair

1. It has been demonstrated that hair contains lipids which cannot be removed by extensive extraction with chloroform-methanol mixtures. These integral lipids can be extracted only after the hair has been subjected to alkaline hydrolysis. 2. Integral hair lipids include cholesterol sulfate (0.7-2.9 mg/g hair), ceramides (0.6-1.4 mg/g), cholesterol (0.3-1.4 mg/g), fatty alcohols (trace-0.2 mg/g) and fatty acids (2.3-4.0 mg/g). 3. One of the major integral hair lipids, representing 38.4-47.6% of the total fatty acids, is the anteisobranched 18-methyleicosanoic acid. 4. The species examined included human (Homo sapiens), pig (Sus scrofa), dog (Canis familiaris), sheep (Ovis ammon aries) and cow (Bos taurus).